Eagan, MN — The Patriots week in Minnesota with the Vikings was a tale of two practices for head coach Mike Vrabel’s team.
The vibes were high for the Patriots after a great showing on day one. New England’s defense mostly controlled practice against Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy, who was under pressure from the Pats defensive front led by Harold Landry and Milton Williams, while the coverage was also competitive in the back end. Offensively, QB Drake Maye and company exchanged haymakers with Vikings DC Brian Flores’s exotic pressure defense, hitting big plays to WR Mack Hollins and RB TreVeyon Henderson, who capped off practice with a 65-yard touchdown catch.
However, the Vikings bounced back on day two, reminding everyone that Minnesota is coming off a 14-win season and a playoff berth a year ago. It was a good reminder that Rome wasn’t built in a day for these Patriots. There’s a positive feeling around the team with Vrabel’s vision of effort and finish coming to fruition. Still, development isn’t always linear, and some questions remain as Vrabel’s staff retools this roster. To expect the Patriots in Vrabel’s first year to “win” back-to-back days against a 14-win team was asking a lot, so it’s not surprising that Minnesota punched back with a better performance on Thursday.
There’s also a positive feeling coming off these two days about the Patriots starting quarterback, who kept his composure as Flores threw pressure and coverage rotations at him from all angles. When he had time, Maye delivered the ball with precision, while finding the pockets in the Vikings coverages with consistent pressure in his face. He also didn’t have any catastrophic errors, with Vrabel making a great point about his quarterback before Thursday’s practice.
“It’s easy to go into a blender when you’re seeing a bunch of this stuff and kind of scrambling and turning one less than favorable play into a real [expletive] storm,” Vrabel said. “I didn’t see that. I thought he was able to process. We didn’t execute all the time, but I didn’t see any panic from him. I thought he was able to communicate and get the things that he wanted, and then hit some plays because of it. When we blocked him, we were able to make some plays.”
Although both sides of the ball were inconsistent in Thursday’s practice, Maye avoiding going into Flores’s blender over the two days was a good sign for the second-year quarterback’s trajectory. Ultimately, Maye’s ability to lead this squad with his play will decide this team’s fate, making him and Vrabel the most important figures in the Patriots football operations.
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